Mother, daughter hurt in Spaulding Highway crash in Dover

By JOHN QUINNUnion Leader CorrespondentMarch 19. 2013 9:14PMDOVER - Two women were injured after their SUV flipped on its side before the General Sullivan Bridge Tuesday afternoon.

Police, firefighters and emergency personnel responded around 4 p.m. after hearing that a vehicle overturned in the northbound lane along Route 16 - the Spaulding Turnpike - between the bridge and the tolls.

It turned out the accident happened in the southbound lane just before the bridge, according to Fire Lt. Steve Lesniak. Lesniak said two women - a mother and her adult daughter - were inside the vehicle when it flipped onto the driver's side, entrapping the daughter. He added firefighters were able to rescue the mother through the rear window, but had to stabilize the vehicle and use hydraulic equipment to free the driver.

"We had to cut open the roof and peel it back," Lesniak said, adding it took about 90 minutes to rescue the daughter.

"It was pretty bad - blowing snow and sleet over everything," Lesniak said, adding firefighters had to protect the two women from the elements while keeping their tools and equipment - especially the stretchers - covered as the snow kept coming.

Lesniak said firefighters were able to keep two of the southbound lanes, including the high-speed lane, open during the process.

He added ambulance crews from Dover and Newington transported the two women, who both sustained non-life threatening injuries, to Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

The identities of the two women had not been released Tuesday afternoon. The accident is being investigated by members of N.H. State Police from Troop A, which patrols Rockingham and Strafford counties.